Closures are typically used for facilitating the containment of, and permitting access to, a product stored in a container. There are a variety of types of conventional closures for containers. One type of prior art closure includes a body or base for being attached to the top of a container. The base defines an opening to the container interior. Such closures typically further include a lid which is hingedly mounted on the base and which can be lifted up to expose the closure base opening.
One application for such closures is in connection with containers for flowable liquids wherein the closure allows the flowable liquid to be poured from the container. One problem associated with such closures is the need for the liquid within the container to be replaced by air as the liquid is poured from the container, which can result in so-called “spurting” or “surging” of the liquid through the closure. This is particularly problematic in so-called “rapid pour” situations wherein the container is inverted or partially inverted with a very quick dispensing motion, such as might be performed by a bartender or other professional seeking a rapid dispensing of the liquid from the container. It is known to provide closures for such applications with an aeration or vent port that allows air to enter the container while liquid is poured from a dispensing port also included in the closure. Examples of such closures are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,241,855; 5,605,254; and 6,926,179. However, such closures can still suffer from “burping” wherein the liquid exits the container via the vent port, which can result in a “messy” pour where the “spurted” or “surged” liquid lands in an unintended location. While such known closures may be suitable for their intended purpose, there is always room for improvement.
The inventor of the present invention has discovered how to provide an improved closure which can accommodate designs that minimize, if not eliminate, one or more of the above-discussed problems. Further, such an improved closure can be designed to accommodate efficient, high-quality, high-speed, large volume manufacturing techniques with a reduced product reject rate to produce products having consistent operating characteristics unit-to-unit with high reliability.